Modern recreational vehicles include many of the modern amenities of free-standing homes. It is not uncommon for the recreational vehicle to include, in addition to sleeping and living quarters, a full-service kitchen as well. One of the appliances which is typically provided in such a recreational vehicle kitchen, is a range which combines the functions of a convection oven with a stove-top having individual burners.
As with many manufacturing processes, recreational vehicles are manufactured in assembly line fashion where it is necessary to minimize the labor required, and thus time and cost required, for manufacturing each vehicle. Every facet of the assembly process is under scrutiny with improvements constantly being implemented, discovered and sought.
One bottle-neck of the assembly process which is currently troublesome to the industry and results in excessive labor costs and time, is the installation of the aforementioned ranges. Ranges are commonly provided with a front face which includes the oven door and control panel which is wider than the oven chamber and which is provided with dimensions so as to fit into an opening provided in the kitchen cabinetry and countertop. Rather than have the range fully fit within the rectangular opening of the countertop and thereby provide a gap between the sides of the range and the sides of the kitchen cabinet, it is desirable to provide side flanges on the range which overlap the kitchen cabinetry and countertop to thereby provide for a more aesthetically pleasing appearance wherein the range blends into the countertop and kitchen cabinet.
However, given the current configuration of ranges, wherein the range front face includes a door and control panel, the countertop must be provided with rectangular cut-outs or notches to receive the control panel therein in order for the range to be fully recessed into the kitchen cabinet. This necessarily increases the labor, time and cost required for manufacture of the recreational vehicle and, thus, the overall cost to the manufacturer and, ultimately, the consumer.